Preview: Blues at Red Wings

[December 09, 2017]  Brayden Schenn has been hot and cold since the start of November, and the 26-year-old appears to be heating up again. Schenn has scored four goals in the last two contests for the St. Louis Blues, who bid to extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday afternoon against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.

Schenn recorded four-point performances to bookend an eight-game point streak before failing to dent the scoresheet in five straight contests prior to extending his recent offensive outburst with a power-play goal in a 3-0 win over Dallas on Thursday. While Schenn has been streaky for the Blues, he has been consistent versus the Red Wings with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 14 career encounters. Detroit snapped a seven-game skid with a 5-1 rout of Winnipeg, giving coach Jeff Blashill reason to believe that a turnaround could be in the team's future. "It's funny how a week in this league or two weeks can change a story," Blashill said. "Two weeks ago I think a lot of people felt like we were in a great spot, and then two weeks later we're not. Let's change that story two weeks from now."

TV: 1 p.m. ET, SN1, FSN-Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Detroit

ABOUT THE BLUES (19-8-2): Jake Allen carried just an .883 save percentage in his previous 10 games before turning aside all 29 shots he faced in a 3-0 win versus Dallas. The 27-year-old New Brunswick native could see double duty this weekend after the team placed backup Carton Hutton (lower body) on injured reserve Friday. Allen owns a 1-0-3 career mark against Detroit, but suffered a hard-luck 2-1 shootout loss last season despite turning aside 26 of 27 shots.

ABOUT THE RED WINGS (11-12-5): Detroit recalled a familiar name on Friday as Tyler Bertuzzi was summoned from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. The nephew of former Red Wing Todd Bertuzzi, the younger forward has scored five goals and set up four others in 12 games with the Griffins in 2017-18 after being selected as the Most Valuable Player of last season's AHL playoffs. The 22-year-old is expected to make his season debut in place of David Booth, who is nursing an undisclosed injury.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis LW Vladimir Sobotka set up a pair of goals versus the Stars to increase his assist total to five in the past six games.

2. Detroit C Gustav Nyquist scored twice against Winnipeg, as all eight of his goals this season have come in wins.

3. The Blues lead the league with 22 goals by defensemen, while the Red Wings' blue-liners have mustered five to reside 30th-best in the NHL in that statistic.

PREDICTION: Blues 4, Red Wings 1

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